Last night, the remaining ten qualified candidates for the Democratic nomination competed in their second debate of the 2020 campaign. Like the previous night’s debate, there were a lot of fireworks, with lower-tier candidates taking their last and best opportunity to bolster their standing in time to qualify for the third debate in September.
After 10 minutes of Superbowl-esque graphics and introductions and some performative patriotism, we got an hour of questions that came straight out of the GOP playbook.
Biden floundered, and Harris was more than ready to make her move. Who even is Eric Swalwell?
Warren’s standout performance, Castro’s defining moments, an emphasis on LGBT issues and the first-ever primary debate with more than one woman candidate.
Tonight out lesbian Lori Lightfoot was elected as Mayor of Chicago, making her the first black woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the position. Still, local activists worry she may not lead a new progressive vision for the city.
We’re coming for you, Trump.
Rio de Janeiro Councillor Marielle Franco, who was assassinated on 14 March 2018 after speaking at an event for the empowerment of Black girls, was a firebrand of a politician, feminist, and human rights activist whose work was deeply informed by her experiences as an Afro-Brazilian Catholic lesbian woman born and raised in the favelas.
Doppelgängers, toxic workplaces (so many to choose from!), Trump’s impeachment, did you cry about Stranger Things 2?, California’s turning all its kids gay probably, and so much more!
“In the Trump era there’s no room for benchwarmers. Seven out of nine of our representatives are white men in a supposedly progressive state. I think we can find room for a feisty feminist.”
In honor of all the other crips I saw in the streets on the Women’s March on Washington, of every disabled woman who’s had it with lip service and wants to make sure this movement belongs to all of us, here are ten more who are already preparing the way.
Here’s 16 women or groups of women who gave me and you and everyone we know some life in this, the darkest of years.
Our future is uncertain. Here’s what isn’t: We will fight on. And as I march and scream and weep and breathe and work and work and work and work for what’s right, I will carry these memories with me. Forever.
Are You There, White American Jesus? It’s Me, Kellyanne
A woman is gonna be president so soon! Get the fuck into it! And while you’re at it, vote for these queer and trans women.
These women are running for open seats in elections pitting them against Republicans or are fighting like hell to overthrow incumbent Republicans. That matters!
What does a female moderator actually do to shift discourse? What impact have they had? It turns out, looking at their stories and experiences, that gender still permeates the debates — and their ability to have an impact on the conversation.
This election has been shaped by Clinton’s campaign at least as much as Trump’s trainwreck of one. She’s aggressively capitalized on her gender by positioning it not as a side note, or even a historic anecdote waiting to happen, but instead as a tangible asset than shifts her ability to lead.
“Whereas some political systems are centered around equality of opportunity for women in politics — basically, the system we have in the US that (in theory) gives women the chance to run for office and be elected to office just like men, nothing different and nothing more — a growing number of nations and political parties have opted instead to make broader representation of women in their governments an explicit political goal using quota systems.”
In my last installment of Rebel Girls, I briefed you on some of the badass glass ceiling crashers currently serving in office who are queer as f*ck. These six women came before them.
There’s a whole lot of patriarchy left to shatter in this cruel world, including at every level of our government. And we need people to crash through glass ceilings in politics who aren’t just straight women.
